Fuelled by record sea surface temperatures, Tropical Storm Beryl is expected to reach major hurricane (category three or higher wind speeds) intensity in the coming hours on a direct path to the Eastern Caribbean today (June 29).

Beryl, which formed from Tropical Depression 2 just before midnight, continues to strengthen in the central Atlantic where environmental conditions are ideal.

Miami-based authority, the National Hurricane Center (NHC), located the centre of Beryl near latitude 9.8 North, longitude 46.8 West—or roughly 1,435 kilometres east-southeast of Barbados.

The tropical storm is barrelling west at 33 kilometres/hour and current packs maximum sustained winds near 100 kilometres/hour, with higher gusts.

Already, the governments of Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada, and St Lucia have issued hurricane watches for their respective countries, with a tropical storm watch in effect for Martinique and Tobago.

NHC experts forecast Beryl to rapidly intensify, becoming a hurricane as early as tonight or early Sunday, and reach major hurricane status shortly afterwards.

A compact system, tropical-storm-force winds extend 75 kilometres outward from Beryl’s centre.

On the forecast track, Beryl is expected to move across the Windward Islands late Sunday night and Monday. Simulations currently project a hurricane-intensity Beryl to then shift west-northwest on a beeline towards Jamaica into the middle of next week.

Elsewhere in the Caribbean Basin, a broad area of low pressure is forecast to form over the Bay of Campeche tonight or early Sunday, where conditions appear generally conducive for further development.

The NHC advised that a tropical depression could form before moving inland again early next week over Mexico. Development chances are listed as “medium” at 40 per cent over the next 48 hours. Despite this, the hurricane watchdog warned that heavy rainfall associated with the low-pressure system will affect portions of Central America and Mexico through early next week.

A third disturbance has emerged off the African coast, as storm activity ramps up at the end of June.

The system, another area of low pressure located in the open waters of the Atlantic hundreds of miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, faces favourable environmental conditions.

Moving west at a brisk 32 kilometres/hour, the NHC says formation chances over the next seven days are currently “medium” at 60 per cent.

The next two available names on the 2024 Hurricane Season list are Chris and Debbie.